1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for making the electrical connection between a steering wheel and a steering column in the steering system of a vehicle, and more particularly, to an apparatus of the above-described type having indication means which indicates the number of rotations of the steering wheel.
2. Description of the prior art
Normally, a spiral coiled tape which is flexible and provided with a plurality of electric conductors is used to make an electrical connection between a steering wheel and a steering column in a conventional steering system of a vehicle (for example, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 53-118243 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 57-66045). In the above-described apparatuses, the coiled tape is accommodated in an accommodating case comprising a stationary case and a movable case. One end of the coiled tape is fixed to the stationary case and the other end thereof is fixed to the movable case.
In the apparatus for carrying out an electrical connection having the above-described construction there is, however, a disadvantage in that it is impossible to visually check from the outside of the accommodating case whether or not the neutral positions of the steering wheel and the spiral coiled tape accommodated in the accommodating case correspond to each other. This makes it difficult to mount, the apparatus which has been dismounted from the vehicle, on the vehicle back with the coiled tape set in the neutral position in the accommodating case. If the steering wheel and the movable case are connected to each other, i.e., if both are connected to each other with the coiled tape tightened or loosened, the coiled tape may be cut due to the rotation of the steering wheel.